Key signals from the SEC-PCAOB conference point to a busy new year

Note: Coffey is CEO–Public Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

We wrapped up our annual Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments last week, and it’s hard to pick a single theme or highlight from the sheer volume of information presented and professional networking packed into a few days.

One point made by SEC Chief Accountant Kurt Hohl, CPA, is worth underscoring, though: There’s little debate that audit quality in the United States has improved over the past two decades.

Big picture, that’s what matters. We need to be vigilant in our audit quality efforts and purposeful about adjusting to changing business realities, whether it’s the growing prevalence of AI or inroads by private equity in the profession. But it’s worth noting that things are trending in the right direction.

Here are some of my takeaways from a busy week:

• We should expect a lot of activity from the SEC early next year. The 43-day government shutdown hindered SEC hiring and regulatory activity. It also delayed plans for the PCAOB. But SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said he expects to pursue an ambitious agenda on corporate disclosure, shareholder litigation, and corporate governance reform, and he expects to hit the ground running early in 2026.
• We didn’t hear a lot of specificity on proposals, but much of what we heard was encouraging. Atkins and Hohl both emphasized, for example, the importance of convergence with international standards as a way to reduce business costs and decrease investor confusion. We take this approach with standard setting through the Auditing Standards Board — what’s appropriate within International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board standards may not always make sense for our jurisdiction, but we can converge as appropriate.
• A more nuanced approach to PCAOB inspections may be underway. Hohl mentioned that a shift to a quality management system approach may be advisable for the PCAOB’s inspection program for audit firms, rather than the current focus on individual audit teams. This is similar to the approach we take with the AICPA’s Peer Review Program, which is designed to emphasize remediation over penalties.
• Crypto will be a major focus of rulemaking. The SEC is expected to be active in setting the rules of the road for digital assets, and clarity is needed one way or the other. The AICPA has been providing guidelines and best practices for practitioners in this area through our systematically updated digital assets practice aid and our recently developed stablecoin reporting criteria framework and related controls criteria. We’ll update our materials as regulatory proposals move forward.

The coming year promises to be an active one for regulatory changes, and the AICPA will continue to offer advocacy, standards updates for private companies, and resources for our members and the public. Stay tuned.  

— Susan Coffey, CPA, CGMA, is CEO–Public Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She leads the Association’s strategy to advance the practice of public accounting, including strengthening the talent pipeline and competencies of U.S. licensed CPAs. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.